Nigerian girls face sexual slavery if not rescued

On April 14, over 270 teenage girls were abducted from a rural high school in the northeast region of Nigeria, an area of the country dominated by Muslims. The abduction was overseen by Abubakar Shekau, the leader of an Islamic terrorist group known as Boko Haram.

Humanitarian experts told Fox News that if these girls are not rescued soon, they will likely be sold into sexual slavery and forced to become prostitutes. The girls will likely be “dispersed throughout the continent, Russia, the Middle East and even Europe.” As prostitutes, these girls will be subject to brutality and disease. Even if the girls are rescued and return home, “they could be traumatized and stigmatized if they are known to be raped, pregnant or with child from their abductors.”

On Wednesday, western powers including France, the U.K. and the U.S. announced that they would be joining the search for these girls. A team of U.S. military personnel is expected to be arriving soon in Abuja, Nigeria. “The team will be composed of roughly 10 uniformed soldiers from AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany,” according to Fox News. “They will be logistics and communications experts who will assess the situation and advise Nigerian officials, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren, who said the U.S. military has no plans to carry out a rescue mission.”